Max Verstappen expects Red Bull to be "closer" to Mercedes & Ferrari with their Spanish Grand Prix upgrade.

The Dutchman had a tricky Friday in Barcelona, losing half of the first session to a mechanical problem, but he would return to the track in the afternoon, eventually claiming P5.

Based on the lap times, it would appear Red Bull are looking over their shoulder, with Haas right on their tail, but Verstappen is confident improvements will be made overnight.

"I have a good feeling about the upgrades which work for sure, and the tyres seem to be working quite well, too," he commented.

"The long runs were okay and we still need to find a little bit of pace, but we have the whole night to find it."

Explaining the morning issues, Max confirmed: "During FP1 we had an oil leak so we had to change the engine ahead of FP2, which put us a little on the back foot.

"I think that’s also a little bit of the reason why we were not exactly where we wanted to be set-up wise with the balance of the car, but we have enough data to understand and improve it for tomorrow."

On the engine change, Honda F1 boss Toyoharu Tanabe revealed both cars were using the same engines that had done the first three races.

“Both cars started FP1 with Spec 1 PUs with a plan of changing them for Spec 2 tonight, therefore Max’s PU change has happened just one session earlier than planned," he explained.

“Pierre continued to use the spec 1 PU for FP2 and his PU will be switched to Spec 2 tonight, as per the original plan. Further investigation on the cause of the oil leak will now be carried out.”

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Reflecting on Red Bull's potential for this weekend, Verstappen does see an opportunity to capitalise on problems ahead, but half an eye is also looking ahead to two weeks time.

"The upgrade will bring us closer to the top but it will not be enough for a win yet," he told Auto Motor und Sport. "We'll save that for Monte Carlo."